I'm a technology nut. I love computers and networks and connectivity. I enjoy being able to check movie times from my phone and video chat over Skype and post to my blog via email. And I believe technologies are a powerful tool for ministry. With about 25% of the world now connected to the internet we have the ability through technology to reach and connect with more people than ever before.

But... My fear in looking at how the North American evangelical church has become more technologically dependent in recent years is that we will miss the 75% of the world who cannot yet connect with us in the process of connecting with the 25% who can. So any approach to technology use in my opinion must help us connect to 100% of the world, because that's the percentage of the world that God desires us to have a heart for.

If our great love was just to reach the United States with the Gospel, for instance, we would be focusing on just 5% of the population of the planet. So the question becomes, how can we use or not use technology effectively to focus on the other 95% of the earth? A few thoughts I had on the subject...

No one technology is "it". We must realize that we cannot look at the internet, or video or mobile devices or DVDs or any other specific technology as "the" technology tool for global impact. Different regions of the world simply have different needs, different capabilities and different cultures. In the Middle East, for example, the printed word and radio broadcasts are widely effective, while in Africa, cassette tapes using machines that hand-crank and require no power supply to run are very useful. In Asia, the internet is everywhere, but in somewhat limited form, so electronic media is helpful there. In Latin America, much of our North American media forms such as CDs and online distribution are useful.

We must step back a bit from the cutting edge at times to see the trailing edge. Often this will lead us to technologies that are "old" by our standards but nevertheless useful and even critical to reaching regions of the world for Christ.

Technology is no substitute for personal relationships. One danger I sense in putting most of our mission-eggs into the technology basket in terms of reaching the world is that we fail to develop relationships with other believers around the world. The "career missionary" philosophy that has predominated the North American evangelical church over the last 200 years has resulted in very few believers traveling to other lands to develop any kind of personal connection with believers in other cultures. I think this is the great fallacy of the church in the modern age--isolationism.

The internet is a great connector, but it can also be a great isolator. We cannot allow the fact that we can email other nations and internact with others from the safety and comfort of our home offices and DSL lines to deter us from engaging personally in the cultures of the world in order to build up the church as we reach and disciple others for Christ. One question I have begun to ask of any technology I employ is, "Will this result in more personal connection with other cultures?" In many cases, the best technologies do not accomplish this.

Why is personal interaction so important? Often those who have been on the mission field return to home and say, "Until you go, you simply will not understand." I believe that is so true--until I went, I did not understand how important the personal interaction was, I had no real concept of the actual cultural context in which others lived, and I had no real means of building the kinds of friendships with other believers that marked my understanding of the church as truly global in scope. Bottom line: do not let technology keep you from traveling the world.

Reliability is more important than functionality. Because North American technology is so advanced, we seldom have to put our use of it in the context of the developing world. A powered technological approach to sharing the Gospel worldwide will simply not work in our not-so-modern world.

In southern Sudan is the city of Juba, population 2 million, with no electricity or running water. Villages in this region can be reached by a treacherous 9-hour ride in an offroad vehicle, and venerable World War II-era DC-3 cargo planes still deliver supplies to remote hospitals set up by Western charities. Gas is $40 a gallon if you can find it. How then, do we work with believers in this nation to disciple them and grow the church? How too do we train them to go into neighboring Ethiopia and Uganda to reach others for Christ? In a place where there are no airlines and airports, no highways, no light switches and electrical sockets in the huts in which they live, what resources can we provide them?

When we look at technologies in this context, we must allow for the fact that reliability is key. We must provide resources that will stand the tests of time and harsh environment. And in the case of technological resources, we must provide items that are self-sufficient, simple and reliable. This means that laptops are wireless connections must give way to bound, laminated, waterproof books as a way to spread Bible teaching. In fact, because of high illiteracy, some folks are already working on picture versions of the Bible that share stories in illustrative form for adults who cannot read. Self-powering (wind up) tape players versus compact disc machines. Solar power in these regions may eventually take off, but they are still to delicate and unreliable for widespread use.

The world is less sophisticated yet smarter than we think. Remember that lack of technology does not mean lack of intelligence. Look at the first century church. They had no phones, no cars, no computers, no high-tech worship rooms. But they were smart, studied, culturally aware and active, well educated. The Apostle Paul never sent an email in his life and yet we can read through half of the New Testament and our minds spin at the great understanding he was able to convey about Christ through his letter-writing.

I love technologies. But at the same time, I realize that when we as the church are connected globally and bent on accomplishing the worldwide mission of making disciples of all nations, then we must step back from our technologies at times. We cannot let the wiring get in the way of the Gospel. Moreso, we cannot hide behind our technologies and fail to really interact with the worldwide church.

The technologies we enjoy as a nation we put forth as great bridge-builders. We talk about the global economy and connecting with other parts of the world and that sounds good. But is the church in North America really connecting worldwide, or mostly posting stuff to the net and acting as pen-pals behind the wall of our insecurities? If you are using technologies that help you engage in the world more fully, great. If your technologies are for you and your own kind alone, then I fear you've missed the whole point and greatest benefits of the tools we have been given to explode the Gospel planetwide.

About the Author. Eugene Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications and technologies. More...